An article looks at probable outcomes for Staples after its sale.
Retail Touchpoints reported the sale of Staples to Sycamore Partners for $6.9 billion (€6 billion) did not come as a shock to the retail industry because of the sales declines and its merger failure with Office Depot.
The article noted that “going private” could give Staples time to make changes and recover or it may be that Sycamore Partners will sell off assets to make a quick profit which would downsize the business. It was also suggested that Shira Goodman, CEO, Staples, would want to speed up the move to B2B which would involve cutting staff and stores while moving “aggressively into digital sales” and further suggested that Staples might try for another merger with Office Depot but Amazon will continue to be the biggest rival.
Ryan Mathews, Founder, CEO, Black Monk Consulting said that “Going private is a major first step toward buying Staples the freedom it needs to make the changes necessary for not just survival, but profitable growth.” Mathews also said that hew would like to see Goodman “power addressing a more creative positioning than traditional “B2C” and/or “B2B.” Mathews asked if the right path for staples was to become the “equivalent of Xerox, or are there more profitable and less competitive options for its future” and said he thought it could be.
Charles Dimov, Director of Marketing, OrderDynamics said that the company had “upped its game on the technology side” and were selling more office hardware than in the past and that maybe Staples should look at having an experience centre like Apple stores which would “hook” SMBs and smaller businesses.
Art Suriano, CEO, The TSi Company could not see a positive long-term outcome for Staples under the private equity company and felt that Staples would be stripped of its assets and that stockholders would be ecstatic because “they make a killing” but that over a period of time “if sales do not reach goals” Staples would be put on the market. Suriano sees the only people to come out on top are those at Sycamore Partners.
Others who were interviewed were more optimistic with Lyle Bunn saying that the only way for Staples was up while JJ Kallergis, Softtek, advised speed in gaining the B2B focus. Craig Sundstrom, CFO, Weisner Steel, said that he found it hard to understand what Sycamore is after and that the explanation of turning around a failing company does not ring true here.
Only time will tell what is in store for Staples.